Woman banned from driving for four years after crashing while eight times over limit

A divorced mum blamed personal issues for her decision to get behind the wheel while extremely drunk, uninsured and unregistered before crashing her car into the back of a parked car.

A drunk driver who crashed her car while nearly eight times over the limit has been taken off the road for four years.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Noel Pedersen said Katherine Francis Eaton’s blood alcohol content reading of 0.388 per cent was the highest he had seen in his 20 years of policing.

The former Flight Centre worker was so intoxicated when police found her, she could hardly stand up straight.

Eaton fronted Richlands Magistrates Court on Monday for the high-range drink driving crash, which Magistrate Aaron Simpson said could have had serious consequences for anyone else on the road.

She pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of liquor, driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle and driving on a suspended licence.

The court was told Eaton crashed her unregistered and uninsured car into the back of another parked along Copmanhurst Pl in Sumner at 10.30pm on March 30.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Noel Pedersen said there was a strong smell of liquor from the car and she appeared unsteady on her feet.

Eaton recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.388 per cent – more than seven times the legal limit.

On May 11, she was pulled up in Sumner, driving the same car.

Eaton told police she was on her way home from picking up groceries and knew she was not allowed to drive on a suspended licence.

Her defence lawyer Antony Eaton said she had turned to heavy drinking after several personal hardships, including an estrangement from her son, a messy divorce and losing her job of 24 years.

Eaton said his client had undertaken a traffic offenders’ program and was seeking counselling.

Magistrate Simpson said the “extremely high reading” was serious and not helped by a previous high reading from 2012.

Katherine Eaton was convicted and received a probation order for 18 months. She was disqualified from driving for four years.